Wrap-around cartons are commonly used to package various types of articles. In particular, the wrap-around carton forming process, which involves wrapping or forming carton blanks about articles while the articles and blanks move at high speeds through a packaging machine, lends itself to packaging articles having outward projections. Preformed cutouts in the carton blank receive the projections when the blank is folded about the article, resulting in a carton having side panels through which the projections of the article extend. Examples of articles packaged in this manner are food containers, such as plastic butter tubs, whose lids extend through cutouts in wrap-around cartons.
In such arrangements the cutouts are normally oversized to enable the carton blank to be easily folded about the articles without snagging on the projections. The cutouts in the resulting package, however, allow dirt to enter the package, which tends to produce a negative reaction in the consumer when the articles are removed from the carton. In addition, the formation of cutouts in the blanks requires removal of material from the blanks, which causes unwanted dust and scrap removal problems. If, however, the blank forming operation is flawed and the cutouts are not entirely removed, the carton forming process will be hindered. Further, some articles have projections of special shape, such as square-cut ends, which the usual cutouts are not adapted to hold tightly in place.
It would be desirable to package articles in wrap-around cartons formed from blanks which do not contain open cutouts but which nevertheless contain provisions for receiving the article projections. It would also be desirable to be able to snugly hold the projections in place, including projections having straight edges as opposed to the usual arcuate edges presented by plastic container lids.